I have the in-cabinet VP160 and I would think the outside cabinets would be similar. But, maybe not. Mine looks like a thin plywood painted black, that scuffs up as I slide it in and out of the hole I made for it.

The black casing is very tight and "finished" for and unfinished case, no seams. The wood trim is unfinished, I will stain it to match the bar, you can get it unfinished or painted as I'm sure you know. The trim is solid, sanded very smooth, and should take a nice stain. There are rubber pads on the bottom to provide good vibration free contact with whatever surface you are setting it on. I have a white grill on it right now, this was a mistake, Axiom is sending black ones along with the subwoofer. Here's a few pictures:

It's funny, there was a period of about a month where the bar was finished and we had all the speakers set up but there were no couches or television. We spent many nights sipping cocktails till 2:00am listening to music. We both commented on how funny it was that we kept doing that, it had been years since we stayed up that late, and years since we spent the night listening to music and talking instead of watching TV.

Here are a couple of thoughts/reviews now that the project is done:1) The Panasonic P65VT50 is an incredible TV. When I'm watching a show I keep thinking to myself, "Unbelievable!". I wouldn't want anything bigger for that room, it's perfect. At the beginning I was thinking I would go with a projector, I am so glad I didn't. What changed my mind was the answer to one question I asked everyone I knew that had a projector: "Do you use it as your primary entertainment center or do you just watch movies on it?" they all replied that they did not use the projector all the time, just for things like movie night.

2) All the Axiom speakers with the exception of the EP500 are incredible. I love the sound produced for both movies, normal television, and music. I believe 100% that I chose the best speakers for my budget and room. I am a satisfied customer. On a side note, I added the QS8's a few weeks after everything else, I was really surprised at how much depth they added to just about everything we watch on TV. I'm really glad I got them.

3) I've had two problems with the EP500, both could have been deal breakers, the jury is currently out on these. I will say that Axiom support has been excellent, they have done everything I have asked of them. From the beginning I started noticing that at times the sub would just stop producing sound. This would happen randomly and was extremely frustrating. I was about to send it back when I decided to take the top off the amp and see if I could spot the problem. I eventually found a poorly made wire connection. Axiom sent me a new one and I replaced it right before installing everything into the entertainment center. You can imagine how frustrated I was when one night it happened again, this time with everything installed and tucked away, I guess the wire wasn't the culprit after all. So last week, at about 10:00 at night I decided that I was going to bit the bullet and rip it out of the stack and send it back to axiom, I was very disappointed. I kept thinking about my $200 Polk that I hooked up as my second sub, it never complained about anything, just quietly did its job with no fuss (well maybe not quietly). So now I had the amp pulled out of the stack, on the floor, and rather than box it up I decide to take the top off again and see if I can spot something else. After a while I realize that if I wiggle the main control board the sound cuts in and out. So I tighten everything up as best I can and at this point am hoping that the problem is fixed. I wrap everything up and re-install it back into the stack. The second problem I have with the EP500 is that when I turn the amp volume any higher that 40% I get a constant hum out of the sub. I have fixed this by upping the signal input by 12db so that leaving the amp at 30% still provides enough sound. I will say that when the EP500 is working, without a hum, it does sound great.

4) The Denon 4311 is awesome, I love it. The Audisy setup makes a big difference in the overall sound. I love having the second zone for outside. Its not overly complicated, I figured most of it out just by playing, I occasionally go to the manual for something specific.

5) I'm glad I have the two back (7.1) speakers, but they haven't really shown their worth yet. I guess not much stuff is recorded in 7.1, for the most part I don't hear much coming from them.

6) The Harmony remote is well worth the money. I cant believe I spent over $100 on a remote, but after having it, I understand why it is worth the price of admission.

That's about it for my critique, If you have any specific questions, or advice on my EP500 problems, feel free to ask.

Niv, it's unfortunate that there appears to be a defect in the circuitry of your EP500, but Axiom will continue to work with you to correct it.

As to the amount of sound from the back surrounds, yes very little 7.1 material with discrete back surround content is available, but when using DPLIIx mode all 2-channel and 5.1 channel material sends sound to the back speakers. This may be relatively subtle, but switching the back surrounds off demonstrates that there is a difference.